Prokaryotes are organisms that are mainly single-celled although some are multicellular. Scientists have divided them into two groups: bacteria and archaea. Prokaryotes have no cell nucleus and no membrane enclosed organelles. Prokaryotic DNA can be found in a coiled loop floating in the cytoplasm in a region called the nucleoid (meaning nucleus-like). In other words, the nucleoid is the area in a prokaryotic cell where DNA is located. Prokaryotes compress their DNA into a small space through a process called supercoiling. Supercoiling DNA allows it to be packaged efficiently into the small cell.

t is located all throughout the cytoplasm. Prokaryotic cells do not have a nucleus so the DNA is located in the cytoplasm. The DNA in prokaryotic cells is also usually found in a circular ring that is coiled up into figure eights called supercoils.